Digital Commons Network^™

'What On Earth Is She Drinking?' Doing Femininity Through Drink Choice On The Girls' Night Out, Emily Nicholls

Journal of International Women's Studies

In a supposed “post-feminist” society of gender equality, engagement with contemporary spaces such as the Night Time Economy (NTE) may offer young women positive opportunities to redefine femininities through leisure activities and alcohol consumption. Whilst the NTE is depicted as an increasingly “feminised” space where women’s drinking is normalised and expected, this essay will demonstrate some of the ways in which alcohol consumption remains highly gendered and women continue to be expected to buy into normative femininity through their beverage choice by looking at a specific mode of engagement with the NTE - the “girl’s night out”. Drawing on the …

Reproducing The Homonormative Family: Neoliberalism, Queer Theory And Same-Sex Reproductive Law, Eliza Garwood

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper seeks to highlight the often overlooked interconnectivity of the cultural sphere and the economic sphere, particularly focusing on same-sex reproductive law and neoliberalism. Using The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, specifically highlighting its implications for same-sex couples, this examination demonstrates the way that policy and legislation frequently echo normative ways of being, encouraging the “good”, productive neoliberal citizen and/or family. This article is informed by Foucault’s notions of governmentality and biopower, problematising this limiting legislation, arguing that it is grounded on an internalised ideal of the traditional family, discouraging more transgressive or creative family formations. Specifically, I …

Taking Action: The Desiring Subjects Of Neoliberal Feminism In India, Hemangini Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper reflects on an emergent brand of feminist activism in India that responds to everyday sexual violence against women in public. I focus specifically on the efforts of middle class women who organize through online media to conduct interventions in urban Indian public spaces. I review these recent feminist interventions and locate them within a historical review of the women’s movement in India to suggest that contemporary feminist organizing embodies and reflects India’s turn to neoliberalism in the 1990s. While neoliberal reforms have been analyzed within the terms of political economy, this paper extends existing research to consider how …

Resisting The Male Gaze: Feminist Responses To The "Normatization" Of The Female Body In Western Culture, Diane Ponterotto

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper attempts to present a feminist critique of the social and political promotion in Western culture of a univocal model of female corporeity imposed on women, and consequently detrimental to female subjectivity and agency. Starting from the Foucauldian position concerning social oppression determined by the disciplinary gaze of power structures, the paper discusses perspectives of resistance to the patriarchally-motivated scrutiny of the female body, and to the mass-media induced coercion of conformity to the normatized model for the female body in contemporary society.

Development Paradoxes: Feminist Solidarity, Alternative Imaginaries And New Spaces, Elora Halim Chowdhury

Journal of International Women's Studies

In his seminal work Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (1995), post-development scholar Arturo Escobar likens development to a chimera. My work builds on a sophisticated body of post-development and transnational feminist theory drawing on conceptions of the relationship of representations of development in the Third World to the interconnected webs of various transnational patriarchal and economic dominations that affect, and are affected by, the realities of marginalized communities in the Global South. In particular, I am concerned with how development discourses interlock with global systemic hierarchies of race, gender, class as well as structural oppressions, …

Trauma, Shame And Performance: Towards A New Topography Of Affects In Black Queer Identities, Maite Escudero-Alías

Journal of International Women's Studies

Haitian American feminist and lesbian activist MilDred Gerestant has become one of the most acclaimed gender performers who best illustrates the malleability of gender, race and sexuality in the reconstruction of black queer identities. Drawing on interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks like trauma studies, queer theory and affect theory, my contribution analyses MilDred’s gender performances as creative attempts to surpass negative affects often attached to minority identities. By exploring the affect of shame as a productive enactment of transformation and hope, rather than as a source of numbness and suffering, this article aims to offer an alternative epistemological paradigm of feminist feeling …

Journal Of Cape Verdean Studies, Vol. 2

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Joao J. Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Histoire De L’Immigration Capverdienne En Côte D’Ivoire, Jean-Baptiste Tavares

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Ending Slavery In Cabo Verde: Between Manumission And Emancipation, 1856-1876, Lumumba H. Shabaka

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

This article explores the ending of slavery in Cabo Verde by using the Committee of Protection of Slaves and Freed-person. Rather than just following the directives from Lisbon, it shows that local leaders were reluctant to establish the institution and cautiously approached the abolition of slavery in the colony. Nevertheless, enslaved Africans and their descendants fully exploited the new laws to gain nominal freedom. Like other parts of the Atlantic world, being freed was a state between manumission and emancipation, because there were struggles over payments, ‘rights’ for the manumitted individuals and mandatory seven years services were required by law.

Immigrants From Cabo Verde In Italy: History And Paths Of Socio-Educative Integration, Clara Silva

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Cape Verdean migration to Italy started in the early sixties of the nineteenth century as an exclusively female one, mostly caused by the demand for domestic workers by bourgeois families. In the late eighties, the Cape Verdean community migrated to Italy was still composed of more than 90% of women. In 1990, the introduction of a legislation setting forth the right to family reunification allowed many women to reunite with their husbands and children remained in their homeland. In Italy, the gradual social inclusion process and the creation of a network of Cape Verdean migrants’ association, allowed to overcome all …

Cape Verde And Its Diaspora: Economic Transnationalism And Homeland Development, João Resende-Santos

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

This study examines the historical role of the diaspora in Cape Verde’s socioeconomic development. It analyzes the prospects and limitations of its diaspora as a transnational economic development resource. While it is policy oriented, the study offers a conceptual framework to analyze its diaspora engagement policies and efforts since 1975. Cape Verde has emerged as a success story. The diaspora’s contribution was one of the four essential factors behind this relative success: migration and remittances, overseas development assistance, large scale public investments, and reasonably sound policies and stewardship of public finances. Today Cape Verde confronts an adverse set of conditions …

“This Country Does Not Have My Back!”: Youth Experiences With A Parent Threatened By Deportation, Leila Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Using exploratory case study methodology and a critical theoretical perspective, this study examined the impact of parental deportation on three Cape Verdean youths, in one of the largest Cape Verdean immigrant communities in Southeast New England. A particularly focus is given to their schooling experiences following parental deportation as well as their understanding of the event of parental deportation. Participants expressed feeling isolated and disconnected in school and from extended family following their parents’ involvement with Immigration services. They questioned or denied their American identity despite being citizens by birth. They described fears and feelings of uncertainty about their future. …

Book Review: 'Honour' Killing And Violence: Theory, Policy & Practice, Wendy Aujla

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of ‘Honour’ Killing and Violence: Theory, Policy & Practice, edited by Aisha K. Gill, Carolyn Strange, & Karl Roberts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Issues In Women's Liberation Struggles In Contemporary Nigeria: A Study Of Ezeigbo's Hands That Crush Stone (2010), Osita C. Ezenwanebe

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper evaluates some contentious issues in women’s liberation struggles in Nigeria as recreated in Ezeigbo’s play, Hands that Crush Stone. The particularities of gender are neglected in the anti-colonial struggle for Nigerian independence, and women’s issues are subsumed within the nationalist literatures of cultural regeneration. With the influence of feminism, many Nigerian women embark on the identification of women’s personhood by controverting the representations of Nigerian women in male-centered works. African theatre, in particular, is very skeptical about the feminist ideology aimed at changing the status of women in society. Similarly, many people are suspicious of women’s liberation struggle …

If The Shoe Fits: An Analysis Of Historical And Contemporary Adaptations Of Cinderella, Heather Dupont

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Zen Of Daryl: A New Masculinity Within Amc's The Walking Dead, Sarah Jane Mulvey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Elitizados, Dinâmicas De Transformação Da Moderna Elite Política Administrativa Cabo-Verdiana, Crisanto Barros

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Diversos estudos sobre dinâmicas de configuração das elites políticas na África subsariana (Daloz, 1999; Daloz e Chabal, 1999; Augé, 2005) e no leste europeu (Bauquet, 2006) tendem a enfatizar processos de reprodução da velha elite política que se recicla e se renova no interior de sistemas políticos formalmente competitivos graças à sua capacidade de reconversão o seu capital político em capital económico e vice-versa. Outras vezes, procura-se evidenciar processos de formação de elites em que o Partido e o Estado desempenham um papel preponderante na emergência de novas elites com alguma dimensão de artificialidade (Farmer, 1999).

Este ensaio pretende lançar …

Reading The World: Historicizing Systemic Contradictions In Lntertextual Dialogues, João J. Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, João J. Rosa

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Cabo Verde: Do Babel Inicial À Emergência De Uma Ordem Linguística, Manuel Veiga

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

O contacto de línguas, em Cabo Verde, evoluiu de um babel inicial, para a emergência de um crioulo, estruturalmente uno, mas com actualizações regionais e matizes fonéticas, morfológicas, lexicais e sintácticas que enriquecem a nossa língua materna, sem comprometer a sua "superior unidade".

As diferenças são devedoras de factores como: as línguas matrizes originárias; o peso demográfico dessas línguas; o aparecimento cedo de mestiços e do crioulo como respectiva língua materna; a tolerância linguística imposta pelas circunstâncias (número reduzido de dominadores brancos; a iliteracia prevalecente; a Carta Régia de 1472 que impunha o comercio escravocrata com "novidades da terra"; a …

Projectos De Alfabetização: Um Diálogo Com Paulo Freire, Donaldo Macedo, Paulo Freire

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

D'Nos Manera - Gender, Collective Identity And Leadership In The Cape Verdean Community In The United States, Terza Alice Silva Lima-Neves

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

This study examines the role of gender relations in modern diaspora communities by presenting Cape Verdeans in the United States as an understudied case within African diasporic experiences. Cape Verdean communities and their organizations have existed in the United States since the 1800s. The levels of intensity with which these organizations operate have shifted over time based on the realities of the host country and the homeland. As a labor diaspora, it will take the Cape Verdean community in the US several generations to shift from labor to skilled diaspora. This study argues that three factors impact the progress of …

“Free Men Name Themselves”: U.S. Cape Verdeans & Black Identity Politics In The Era Of Revolutions, 1955-75, Aminah Pilgrim

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

Contrary to widely held assumptions about Cape Verdean immigrants in the US – based on oral folklore and early historiography - the population was never "confused" about their collective identity. Individuals and groups of Cape Verdeans wrestled with US racial ideology just as they struggled to make new lives for themselves and their families abroad. The men and women confronted African-American or "black" identity politics from the moment of their arrivals upon these shores, and chose very deliberate strategies for building community, re-inventing their lives and creating pathways for survival and resistance. One exceptional tool for providing others with a …

Journal Of Cape Verdean Studies, Vol. 1

Journal of Cape Verdean Studies

No abstract provided.

Facts Behind The Façade: Is There More To Dieting Than Meets The Eye?, Huda Iqbal Ahmed Qazi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper extends a previous qualitative research on female yo-yo dieters/weight cyclers in the UK. Out of nine participants in the previous study, this investigation has made use of feminist perspectives to further analyze the data of four participants that was previously derived via thematic analysis. Feminist analysis revealed that initiation of frequent dieting episodes is not merely to lose weight; rather complex control and identity issues as well as negative emotions play a role in triggering yo-yo dieting in some women. Furthermore, the similarity of these manifestations to eating disorders is discussed.

You're Trans-Mexi-Fying Right Before Our Eyes: Westernized Bodily Features And Beauty Practices In Ugly Betty, Luz-Maria Tato-Pazo

Journal of International Women's Studies

Makeover narratives are a form of discourse which relies on some type of transformation as a path to success. These narratives mainly target the bodies of white middle-class and middle-aged heterosexual women with the aim of creating more conventionally beautiful feminine subjects. This article explores the beauty practices and rituals present in the US dramedy Ugly Betty. We look in detail at makeover narratives and their close association with contemporary idealized versions of female attractiveness. Closely tied up with the makeover canon, the beauty industry entails processes of disciplining women’s bodies to meet the requirements of an ideal feminine …

Ecofeminism And Natural Disasters: Sri Lankan Women Post-Tsunami, Alyssa Banford, Cameron Kiely Froude

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women experience a host of negative consequences during and after a natural disaster. A variety of feminist theories have been used to explore this phenomenon. The aim of this paper is to posit the need for an ecofeminist perspective on analyzing women’s vulnerabilities post-natural disaster. The authors will discuss the history and branches of ecofeminism, highlighting their utility in exploring the intersection of race, class, and gender in the aftermath of disaster. An ecofeminist analysis of Sri Lankan women’s vulnerability in the wake of the 2004 tsunami will be used to illustrate the utility of the theory. Implications of using …

You Are What You (M)Eat: Explorations Of Meat-Eating, Masculinity And Masquerade, Amy Calvert

Journal of International Women's Studies

Food consumption is frequently linked to identity and to who we are as individuals, which I explore through the analysis of the US reality television series Man V. Food. Through close readings of various scenes, I look at representations of hegemonic masculine performance, and the sexualisation of women and meat. In light of my analysis, I argue that the show is both post-feminist and part of a wider backlash against feminist action. Man V. Food is analysed in consideration of the wider phenomena of masculine crisis and backlash against various social movements, specifically recent feminist and vegetarian/vegan movements. This …

Introduction: "New Directions In Feminist Studies - Emotions, Activisms, Intersectionality", Trishima Mitra-Kahn, Katya Salmi

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.